I just spent over 2 hours solving one of Rudd's Nightmares on his Sudocue site. That is normal for me. I am to the point that I usually won't even start one unless there are comments on his forum on how to proceed past the usual stuff. Unfortunately, there are not many; but I took a chance with the Unique Rectangles Week. That is why I like this site so much. I have been a daily follower since September; but don't write often because I usually mess up my explanation & embarrass myself. Plus I do everything by hand, so don't have a computer to keep me from making mistakes. I also only do Very Hards now. I think it was Marty that made the same comment about needing puzzles between samgj's Very Hards & Rudd's Nightmares. I was happy to see David Bryant & Keith added as official contributers. They are extremely helpful; plus I enjoy many of the regular writers like Marty, Tracy, & Ravel; but miss Someone & Alan. My newspaper also publishes David Bodycomb's puzzles. I only do those on Saturdays (the 6 stars), but I always appreciate Keith's comments. Another site I enjoy but don't spend any time on except to relax doing the easiest is an Australian site. The reason I do that is because when you solve the puzzle online, a photo fades in replacing the puzzle. That is kind of cute.

Anyway, I just wanted Sam to know how much I appreciate his site & let him know what interests me. Although I usually do not have much trouble with the Very Hards, I appreciate your recent efforts to make them a little more challenging. The only thing I need now is someone to talk about Nightmares more often so I can get in Rudd's head & start to figure his out.

Comments much appreciated. Although it takes me a while just because of the number of hours in the day, you can expect the the hardest puzzles here to gradually get tougher. The nightmares and others hopefully keep the hard core happy in the meantime!

Dave, just keep plugging away like I did. I've reached the point where I now solve almost all the "Nightmares" I attempt. The Australia site's "Tough" puzzles can be impossible. By the way, I also do everything with pencil and paper (and plenty of erasers). So that either makes me a Luddite or a stockholder in graphite and rubber companies.

I also do the Very Hards here, the DB puzzles that Keith posts and others that I may see here.

This is the only forum I belong to, and while it's not the busiest, there are a few people who have been extremely helpful and I think I've learned just as much as I would have on a busier forum. One of the helpful people has been Mr. Bryant, but I don't recall seeing anything from him in awhile. As is the case on any kind of forum, one wonders what's up when a regular seems to have vanished.

One of the helpful people has been Mr. Bryant, but I don't recall seeing anything from him in awhile. As is the case on any kind of forum, one wonders what's up when a regular seems to have vanished.

Thanks for the kind words, Marty.

No, I haven't vanished entirely. I (very stupidly) threw my back out of joint a couple of weeks ago, and I just haven't been in the mood to write very much. Besides, you and Keith seem to be doing a good job of answering the questions that have come up.

I'm feeling quite a bit better today -- maybe I'll be back to normal by next week. dcb